Atapuerca Mountains

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Atapuerca Mountains
Sierra de Atapuerca
Atapuerca Mountains panorama
Atapuerca Mountains panorama
Atapuerca Mountains in Spain Atapuerca Mountains in Spain
Location in Spain
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Location near Atapuerca, Ibeas de Juarros
Region Burgos, Castile and Len
Coordinates 4222'0?N 331'20?WCoordinates 4222'0?N 331'20?W
History
Periods Paleolithic
Associated with Homo antecessor, Homo heidelbergensis
Site notes
Excavation dates since 1964
Archaeologists Francisco Jord Cerd
Website httpwww.atapuerca.org
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Official name Archaeological Site of Atapuerca
Criteria Cultural (iii), (v) Edit this on Wikidata
Reference 989
Inscription 2000 (24th Session)
[edit on Wikidata]
The Atapuerca Mountains (Spanish Sierra de Atapuerca) is a karstic hill formation
near the village of Atapuerca in Castile and Len, northern Spain. In a still
ongoing excavation campaign rich fossil deposits and stone tool assemblages were
discovered in the complex of local caves that are attributed to the earliest known
hominin residents in Western Europe.[1] This exceptional reserve of data has been
deposited during extensive Lower Paleolithic presence as the Atapuerca Mountains
served as the preferred occupation site of Homo erectus, Homo antecessor (or Homo
erectus antecessor) and Homo heidelbergensis communities. The earliest specimen yet
unearthed and reliably dated confirm an age between 1.2 Million and 600,000 years.
The site was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, under the name,
Archaeological Site of Atapuerca.[2][3]

Contents [hide]
1 Regional geography
2 Archaeological site
2.1 Portaln (1910 to present)
2.2 Galera de la Eduarda y el Kolora (1972)
2.3 Galera (1978 to present)
2.4 Trinchera Dolina (1981 to present)
2.5 Sima de los Huesos (1983 to present)
2.6 Sima del Elefante (1996 to present)
2.7 Cueva del Mirador (1999 to present)
2.8 Orchids Valley (2000 to 2001) and Hundidero (2004 to 2005)
3 Recorded history
4 Economic and demographic development
5 Economic impact and demographic development
6 Gallery
7 See also
8 References
9 External links
Regional geography[edit]
Encompassing 284,119 ha (702,070 acres) the Atapuerca Mountains are a mid-altitude
karstic range of small foothills around 1,080 m (3,540 ft) above sea level at the
north-east corner of the Douro basin and to the south of the Cantabrian Mountains
that run across northern Spain.[4] Stretching alongside the Bureba corridor, a
mountain pass that connects the Ebro river valley with the Mediterranean Sea and
the Duero basin. This conjunction constitutes an ecotone, that is rich in species
of both ecosystems. The mountain pass was part of an Roman causeway and the
pilgrimage route of Saint James that is now traversed by the N-I and AP-1 highways.
Situated strategically in between two major Drainage divides and near the mountain
pass is assumed to have been supportive for the successful and prolonged hominid
habitation.[5][6]

Archaeological site[edit]
The archaeological significance of the area became increasingly apparent during the
construction of a railway line as deep trenches were cut through the rocks and
sediments of the Gran Dolina site, the Galera Elefante and at Sima de los Huesos.
The subsequent excavation of 1964 under the direction of Francisco Jord Cerd
succeeded with the discovery of anthropogenic artifacts and human fossils from a
broad time range of early humans, hunter-gatherer groups to Bronze Age occupants
and modern human settlers. Further campaigns expanded and interdisciplinary work
has been undertaken by several teams, led by Emiliano Aguirre from 1978 to 1990 and
later jointly by Eudald Carbonell, Jos Mara Bermdez de Castro and Juan Luis
Arsuaga.

The government of Castile and Len has designated the site an Espacio cultural and
under the title Zona Arqueolgica sierra de Atapuerca the site is protected under
Spanish law as it was induced into the Bien de Inters Cultural heritage register.
[7]

Portaln (1910 to present)[edit]

The combined work of archaeologists Jess Carballo (1910 to 1911), Geoffrey Clark
(1971), Jos Mara Apellniz (1973 to 1983) and the current team of Juan Luis
Arsuaga account for the documentation of the excavation sequence of ceramic objects
from all relevant sediment layers since the Neolithic.

Galera de la Eduarda y el Kolora (1972)[edit]

The Galera de la Eduarda y el Kolora is a local cave that contains parietal rock
paintings, only discovered in 1972 by a group of local speleologists.

Galera (1978 to present)[edit]

Among numerous faunal and floral fossils a jaw fragment was found during the 1970s
and a skull fragment in 1995, which both belong to Homo heidelbergensis. They date
to between 600,000 and 400,000 years BP.

Trinchera Dolina (1981 to present)[edit]

Map of the railway trench with discovery sites

Trinchera Zarpazos, part of the Galera system in 2006

The Homo heidelbergensis Cranium 5, one of the most important discoveries; its
nearly complete mandible was only found years later
The Gran Dolina (also Trinchera Dolina, En Dolina trench) site is a huge cavern,
which is being excavated since September 1981. Its sediments were divided into
eleven stratae (TD-1 to TD-11)

TD-11 Mousterian tools found

Level TD-10 presumed to have been a Homo heidelbergensis camp with tools and bison
fossils.
Level TD-8, accessible since 1994, it contained remarkable carnivore fossils.
In level TD-7, a bovine leg in anatomical position was recovered in 1994
TD-6 (Aurora stratum) In 1994 and 1995, over 80 bone fragments of five or six
hominids found, between 850,000 and 780,000 years old, being at least 250,000 years
older than any other hominid yet discovered in western Europe. About 25% of the
bones have manipulation marks that suggest cannibalism. Classification of these
remains is still being debated, suggestions range from Homo erectus to Homo
heidelbergensis and Homo antecessor. Some researchers, who are familiar with the
stratigraphic material of Gran Dolina argue that Homo antecessor may be the
ancestor of Homo heidelbergensis, who in turn gave rise to Homo neandertalensis.
The Homo erectus-like fossils were also found with retouched flake and core stone
tools.
Level TD-5 is assumed to have been a carnivore den.
In TD-4 (dated to 780,000 BP), four lithic pieces were found during the 1991
excavation and several remnants of Ursus dolinensis, a sparsely described bear
species.
At the lowest levels (TD-1 and TD-2) no fossils
Sima de los Huesos (1983 to present)[edit]
Sima de los Huesos (Pit of Bones) accounts for the greatest number of valuable
scientific discoveries and knowledge acquired with far-reaching implications. This
site is located at the bottom of a 13 m (43 ft) deep shaft, or chimney accessible
via the narrow corridors of the Cueva Mayor.[8]

Since 1997 the excavators have located more than 5,500 human skeletal remains
deposited during the Middle Pleistocene period, at least 350,000 years old, which
represent 28 individuals of Homo heidelbergensis.[9] Associated finds include Ursus
deningeri fossils and a hand axe called Excalibur. Having received a surprisingly
high degree of attention a number of experts support the hypothesis that this
particular Acheulean tool made of red quartzite implies to have served as a ritual
offering, most likely for a funeral. The idea sparked a renewal of the disputed
evolutionary progress and the stages of human cognitive, intellectual and
conceptual development.[10] Ninety percent of the known Homo heidelbergensis fossil
record have been obtained at the site. The fossil bone pit includes

The complete cranium, Skull 5, nicknamed Migueln, the fragmented cranial remains
of Skull 4, nicknamed Agamenn and Skull 6, nicknamed Rui (a reference to the
medieval military leader El Cid).
A complete pelvis (Pelvis 1), humorously nicknamed Elvis
Mandibles, teeth, a lot of postcranial bones (femora, hand and foot bones,
vertebrae, ribs, etc.)
Remains of a child with craniosynostosis were found and dated to 530,000 BP. The
find was considered to provide evidence for food sharing in early human
populations.[11]
Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from a 400,000 year old femur has been sequenced, the
oldest hominin mtDNA recovered as of 2013. The mtDNA was found to be closer to the
mtDNA of Denisova hominins than to the mtDNA of Neanderthals.[12]
In 2016 nuclear DNA analysis results determined the Sima hominins to be
Neanderthals and not Denisova hominins and the divergence between Neanderthals and
Denisovans predates 430,000 years.[13][14]
Some excavators have stated that the concentration of bones in the pit allows the
suggestion of a traditional burial culture among the cave's inhabitants. A
competing theory cites the lack of small bones in the assemblage and suggests that
the fossils were washed into the pit by non-human agents.

Sima del Elefante (1996 to present)[edit]

According to Jos Mara Bermdez de Castro, co-director of research at Atapuerca,
the Sima del Elefante findings support anatomical evidence of the hominids that
fabricated tools more than one million years ago, which may have been the earliest
among Western European hominids. The first discovery in June 2007 was a tooth [15]
followed by a fragment of a jawbone and a proximal phalanx in 2008.[16]

Cueva del Mirador (1999 to present)[edit]

This site provides information on earliest local farmers and herders of the late
Neolithic and Bronze Age.

panoramic view of the Atapuerca site

Orchids Valley (2000 to 2001) and Hundidero (2004 to 2005)[edit]
Stone tools of the Upper Paleolithic have been extracted from this locality.

Recorded history[edit]
Piedrahita (standing stone) in the Atapuerca valley is according to records site of
the Battle of Atapuerca, which took place in 1054 between the forces of Ferdinand I
of Castile and his brother Garca V of Navarre.

Economic and demographic development[edit]

Apart from the typical dryland farming of the region, the municipality has grown
significantly in economic, demographic and social level with the impact generated
because of the presence of the archaeological site and its associated services. 15%
of the active population is have a job related to tourism, this tertiarization of
their economy has reversed depopulation and has caused the population to grow
again, rejuvenating the population and placing the average age in 42 years[17] .

Economic impact and demographic development[edit]

The municipality of Atapuerca has grown significantly in economic, demographic and
social level due to the impact generated by the presence of the archaeological site
and its associated services. In fact, 15% of the active population has a job
related to tourism, which reversed the depopulation of the region, growing and
rejuvenating the population (wi